Revolut to start British banking operations this year as profits surge
Revolut expects to finally start operating as a UK bank in 2025 after the challenger's profits and revenues surged last year.
The group first applied for a UK banking licence in 2021, but the approval process ended up taking more than three years.
Revolut faced a series of obstacles while trying to secure a permit from the Prudential Regulation Authority, but secured its licence from the regulator in July 2024.
On Thursday, Revolut said it was 'working hard to complete the setup of our processes before formally starting operations as a UK bank during 2025'.
The firm's annual pre-tax profit rose by 149 per cent last year to £1.1billion as the firm rode a wave in crypto trading and earned more from higher interest rates and card fees.
The London-based fintech firm saw its revenue increase to £3.1bllion in the period, up from £1.8billion the previous year.
Crunch time: Nikolay Storonsky is the chief executive and founder of Revolut
Revolut said the upturn in revenue was driven by card payments, income from interest on the back of higher interest rates and its wealth arm incorporating trading and crypto products.
The firm's annual pre-tax profit was more than double the £438million in 2023.
Customer numbers grew to 52.5million, up from 38million in 2023, Revolut said.
Wealth revenues grew 300 per cent year-on-year, driven by increased crypto trading and the launch of the group's crypto exchange.
Revolut remains small for customer lending, reporting £979million of customer loans on its balance sheet in 2024, up from £528million the year before.
Revolut was valued at around £34billion last year, rivalling large European lenders, and it has plans to expand into mortgages and consumer lending to challenge high street lenders.
The valuation emerged after the group secured a UK banking licence, ending a three-year wait after running into difficulty following scrutiny over its internal accounting.
In its annual report, Revolut also said its chief executive and founder, Nikolay Storonsky increased his ownership in April 2025 by acquiring an 'indirect, non-voting interest' in the company during a reorganisation of its ownership structure.
Storonsky now owns, directly or indirectly, more than 25 per cent of Revolut, the report said, without disclosing what he owned previously.
Storonsky said on Thursday that 2024 had been a 'landmark' year for the business.
He added: 'We're making strong progress towards 100million daily active customers across 100 countries, driven by growth in the UK, Europe and our expansion markets.'
Revolut was founded in London as a decade ago as a provider of foreign exchange and money transfer services.
Zopa Bank doubles pre-tax profit
Online-based bank Zopa Bank doubled its pre-tax profit in its second full year of profitability.
The London-based firm pocketed £34.2million in the 2024 financial year, up from £16.8million the previous year.
Revenue jumped 30.2 per cent to £303.4million, driven by a 60 per cent surge in its deposits base to £5.5billion.
The rise in income offset a 28 per cent increase in operating expenses, which reached £105.3million.
Jaidev Janardana, chief executive at Zopa, said: 'We have created a business model where we win when our customers win, and our interests are very aligned with our customers – we feel that's a more sustainable way of creating a brand and running business.'
On the possibility of an upcoming initial public offering, Janardana, said 'the business was ready, the markets need to be ready as well.'
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